If I'm not mistaken, this site is suppose to be all things root beer. So I find it hard that while researching what is available out there, that your list of brands does not mention whether they are active or inactive or when they went out of business.

I very much prefer glass bottled root beer over all others. Problem however is that by looking at this site. One would be able to see hundreds of brands in each state, but never know if the brand is still available or how it's packaged other than a picture. Though even with a picture, the manufacturer could offer other packaging options.

Any chance you can ad a check box and/or the ability to just show active brands that are available today?

Also would be nice to know what packaging availability there is? Only on tap? Kegs? 2 liters? Glass? Cans? Plastic? However it can be purchased.

Not that I think information / pictures on over 2500 brands of root beer is enough, but I find it hard to agree with your premise...

On a serious note, we are looking into provide additional information on ingredients / sweeteners, carbonation method and availability (active / inactive, locations), but haven't previously considered packaging alternatives. With so many available brands, we would definitely need the ability for site members to contribute this information in a manageable way.

If we can make availability by country / state, it would make it easier to locate by using a map (currently, searching by map - which has been available since 2003 - shows where the brand was born). Maybe we could have a map that shows which stores carry which brands... Maybe availability is determined by having one or more locations defined... (the wheels start turning...)_________________Bottoms up!
Kevin Guske

“So here’s a tribute toast with root beer in hand to you and the many mugs of suds along your happy trails.” --Charles Wysocki, artist and root beer fan, 1928-2002

i know i would love to have an "active/inactive" indicator on here. i did ask for it a couple years ago actually. =) but i understand it is difficult to do.
i mean, heck, i only have about 750 root beers in my database and it is hard to manage them.
availability, for me, is simply where it can be bought, which is very difficult to maintain. but readers will probably help out a lot with that. i know mine correct me all the time. if it is not an active brand i mark it as such in my database.
i plan to make a map at some point myself but have yet to get around to it. having to click the state name does not seem so hard to me._________________anthony's root beer barrel http://rootbeerbarrel.com

to me, knowing whether a brand even is made anymore or not is the most important.
but i suppose if you had locations that carry brands, then those brands would be current brands.
i suspect the 2nd is much much harder though. i cannot even imagine where to start doing that, unless it is a very small brand or a single site thing._________________anthony's root beer barrel http://rootbeerbarrel.com

It is good to see the three brains of root beer all trying to make it easier for the rest of us to locate and obtain our brews. I like Josh's idea, but agree with you Kevin, you would have to quit your job and do this full time AND hire a staff to get us all the updated information. I do like the idea of some how getting the information of brand availablity somehow from your members......... Thanks to all three of you for your time and effort you put forth.

My suggestion would be to make it as easy for the developer as possible and let the subscribers edit themselves. Just as wikipedia does.

I'm no programmer and I'm sure an active check box saying whether a product is active or inactive wouldn't work as sinister people would play around and turn it on and off to mess with the site.

You could assign "moderators" and allow those people "manager" access to the site and let them monitor submissions of products found and where they find them and allow those people to edit the present descriptions. There's plenty of people out there that could find free time here and there to check a box of products they know are available in their area and and a comment here and there or designate emails from subscribers to them and have them sort out the locations and brands sent to them by other subscribers.

The other idea would sway more towards creating some sort of review option for each brand and subscribers could post comments on certain brands, like where they found the product or whether they know of when the product went out of business. This setup could also be monitored by "moderators" assigned by you so that you don't have to carry the burden.

example: I'm searching the site and find "Dorothy Muelters Isle of Pine root beer". I then click the link next to the brand or within the brand description and the link takes me to a page which asks if the product is active (check box) and store, city/state that you can find it.

once the subscriber clicks the submit button, this info will go to either a moderator by email, or into a different page of which only moderators can view and whichever moderator is logged in at any given time will be able to see if the suggestion has been handled by a different moderator, or if still needs someone to review it. From there the moderator can choose to upload the info to the site as good tips, or delete it as junk info.

By having the active/inactive check box, you could then add this option as a sort feature in the US map area in which only brands that are still available will show. or vice versa someone can see all inactive brands and maybe find a few that they remember seeing in a store but didn't find them on the site originally.

But after a little research, it's actually been 7 years that the availablity option and ability to choose which is your favorite brand was suggested.

Who suggested it?

You did....

Here is the first post posted to the forums in 2003 and states "Start here for information on posting to the Root Beer World forums"

"The Root Beer World forums were created to provide a way for root beer fans all over the world to discuss brands (new brands, availability, history, favorites), collectibles / antiques, and general topics on root beer."

Been working on the software than runs this site (there have been MANY releases since this one...)

The new version will make it easier to implement user reviews under the brand links, so we might get that before availability - but I am hopeful that 2012 is the year!_________________Bottoms up!
Kevin Guske

“So here’s a tribute toast with root beer in hand to you and the many mugs of suds along your happy trails.” --Charles Wysocki, artist and root beer fan, 1928-2002